I know why the caged bird sings, but he hasn’t had anything to crow about lately

 

Here we are, the fourth day into 2014, and I am at a loss for words.  I want to write, I’m anxious to share something (to show that I’m here, still alive and kicking) but I’ve been wracking my brain for the last couple days for a new topic and keep coming up with nothing.  If we were sitting here face to face, it’d be a different story—it’s a lot easier to drone on about meaningless stuff when I have another person looking at me across the table.  (Just ask Karan or Danielle, two coworkers I had lunch with yesterday.  I couldn’t shut up!)

I was going to offer an apology for my last blog (about that Keurig coffee machine I got myself for Christmas) but now I’m tempted to write more about it.  Last night when I got home from work, worn out and frozen, there was a carton of assorted coffees on my doorstep.  When I opened it up and saw the various flavors inside, it felt like Christmas again.  (Banana caramel?  German chocolate cake?  Southern Pecan?  They seem so… indulgent.)  I sure am getting a big kick out of that Keurig though, I may be late to the party when it comes to the newest gadgets but I show up eventually.

Anyway, right now those fancy coffees are the only creative juices flowing—I think my brain is dried out from my job.  Every year, from mid-November thru the end of January I’m working nights, weekends, even in my dreams, trying to meet 1,001 deadlines.  (In fact, this is one of my biggest motivators for wanting that early retirement!) 

As long as I’m on the subject (and then I have to shut up about it, a friend told me my retirement blogs are real snooze-fests), I recently added a ‘Countdown Date to Early Retirement’ at the bottom of the teepee, in the right hand column.  The folks at Mint.com supply a date (that jumps forward or back whenever my stock portfolio goes up or down, I make a bank deposit, pay my rent or credit card bill, etc). 

A week ago it was October 20, 2017: see what a couple recent slides in the market have done?   Hopefully as time marches on, this little Indian and me will meet somewhere in the middle

Also, I recently found yet another retirement calculator (after watching some financial guru on CNN talk about people being scared into thinking they’ll need a much bigger nest egg than they can ever save up for). 

You enter your current salary, years to retirement & number of years you plan to stick around, and it gives you TWO nest egg totals:  what the typical retirement calculator says you need (Traditional) and what you'll probably be needing in actuality (Reality) which is a lot less than the traditional amount.  (It’s based on statistics showing most people spend less after certain ages, not more.) 

If I haven’t bored you into a coma yet, click here to see it.  Here’s my numbers (the two yellow boxes).  I plan to fall somewhere in between:

This is based on wanting to retire in 4 years, an annual income equal to 65-70% of my salary & living to 85.  Okay, I’m done!

And finally, it’s my first blog of the New Year and I haven’t come up with any resolutions for 2014.  Let’s see…

• Stop blogging so much about retirement (it’s years away)
• Drop 20 lbs without sacrificing that weekend bowl of butter pecan ice cream (I’m convinced it can be done)
• Hire a painter as soon as the weather warms up—and build those bookcases (stacked in my bedroom since 2011) 
• Get some new glasses
• Get some new neighbors (I wish I was joking)

I need to you-know-what or get off the pot—Happy New Year!